Rainy Day at the Voorhees Town Center

It was pouring when I got up this morning. A Wonderlandiful World inspired me to re-read Alice In Wonderland, and I was in the mood for musicals, so I ran Alice at the Palace while I ate a very late breakfast and got organized. This was a stage show from 1982, with Meryl Streep in the title role as the young lady who falls down a rabbit hole and finds herself in a fantastic world. Here, everything is based around vaudeville and music hall - the Queen of Hearts is a showgirl, the Mock Turtle is an old Russian, the Cheshire Cat brings on a goofy chorus number, the White Knight mimes most of his routine. I think this is on DVD - strange but interesting if you like Streep or Alice variations.

It was still raining as Alice ended. I decided to switch my original plan for Saturday - a short trip to the Voorhees Town Center - to today and go to the Haddon Township Library on Saturday. The Town Center may smaller than most of the other local malls and in the middle of nowhere, but it does make a nice, short trip when you only have a few hours to spare or want to check out Boscov's. I made a quick stop at WaWa to get water and make change, then quickly locked my bike at Oaklyn's City Hall and hurried to the bus stop. I just made it on the bus.

The bus trip to the Town Center was uneventful and rather cozy. The rain just kept coming down. I almost wished I'd opted for a longer ride. The Town Center itself surprisingly wasn't busy. Not even big sales at Boscov's could draw crowds. I looked at another Ever After High 2-pack, the twin daughters of Rapunzel, Holly and Poppy, in the toy section, but ultimately decided I didn't want to pay $35 for them. I'll wait for the price to come down.

I was mainly there for a new pair of winter gloves. The ones I bought at Macy's a few years ago were worn out from being used on the bike. A hole had started appearing in the left one. This time, I went with a pair of Isotoner sport gloves with vinyl padding and very soft flannel lining. Hopefully, these will hold out a bit longer. The price was right, at any rate. Originally $46, I got them on sale for $19.99.

My other stop was a brief one at the large Hallmark. Yes, they still have WebKinz. I looked at a cute pink penguin, but went with the last Rockerz pet I remotely liked, a dance-themed Zebra. (And I later discovered she was missing her code. I can't find it anywhere. I don't remember seeing it at the store. Nuts. I don't have a way to scan the receipt and send it to Ganz, either.) I also bought Frosted Cranberry hand soap on sale for $3 at Bath and Body Works and took a look at Adventureland, which mostly sells comic books. The Game Stop seems to be gone, though. Not the biggest loss - there's 800 other Game Stops in this area, and that one wasn't all that great.

I've never explored the Boulevard, the street of shops and condos leading to the housing area. I either didn't have the time, or the weather wasn't right. The weather still wasn't right - the rain wasn't stopping - but I was bored. Other than a cosmetology school, the Boulevard consists almost entirely of fancy restaurants, a frozen yogurt parlor, and Victorian Savories, a bakery and cafe. The young man behind the simple marble counter boasted of their home-made goodies and beverages that won awards in several local magazines. No wonder - their gingerbread man cookie was crispy and spicy, and though I don't think he quite heated the apple cider up enough, it was still very apple-y and tasty. I sipped my cider and watched the rain fall. The only other person in the fairly large (by cafe standards) store was a girl listening to earphones and plugging away on an Apple laptop.

I was originally going to stay a little longer, but there wasn't much left to do, and the rain wasn't ending. I took the 4:05 home. Not only was there no traffic, but the bus was actually a few minutes early! Once again, I had no problems getting on and off, picking up my bike, and heading home.

Went in the bath after I got in. Ahhhh. That felt very nice. I read Happier at Home and listened to pop songs from the World War II era as I relaxed. I needed that. I hadn't had a bath in a long time.

When I got out, I listened to the Broadway original cast album for Tovarich while making salmon and Brussels sprouts in lemon sauce for dinner. This 1963 musical version of the 30s play casts Vivian Leigh (in her only musical) and Jean Pierre Audmont as former Russian nobles forced to work as servants for American ambassadors. Tatiana (Leigh) has access to 4 million rubles that everyone, from the French government to the Soviets, seems to want. Meanwhile, the nobles have to fend off the affections of the bored son and daughter of the ambassadors.

Leigh won a Tony as Tatiana, but other than her performance, this show is cute but nothing special. It was a minor hit at the time, but isn't well-remembered other than Leigh and doesn't seem to have been seen since. I think the CD is out of print; only worth looking for if you're a fan of Leigh or standard 50s/early 60s musical comedy.